Study without Abitur
Your path to IU studies

You want to study after vocational training without an Abitur? If you can prove that you have completed at least two years of vocational training and then at least three years of work experience (in full-time), you are on the best way to your desired degree course! In addition, the degree course you choose should be subject-related to your learned profession. The decision regarding whether your experience is suitable for a degree programme is made by each university independently. 

If you have completed a vocational advanced further training course, you can also study without an Abitur. This includes, for example, further training in these professions: Technician, educator or business administrator.  Written proof that you have passed the state examination counts as a university entrance qualification. 

Alternatively, you can also start your studies with a master's certificate (Meisterbrief). If you have successfully completed your examination for a master craftsman's diploma, this replaces a classical higher education entrance qualification. In this case, the same rules apply to you as to prospective students with an Abitur.   

The Aptitude examination (Begabtenprüfung) is an alternative for catching up on your Abitur and allows you to apply for admission-restricted degree programmes nationwide. You have to fulfil a few requirements to do so: 

• You are at least 25 years old,  
• have a completed vocational training 
• and at least five years of professional experience.  

For the aptitude examination, you should contact the regional Ministry of Education in the federal state in which you are resident. 

A qualification test is used to determine whether you meet the general requirements for a degree programme. To complete the exam at the IU, simply apply for the degree programme of your choice. If you meet all the requirements, you will be given access to the online campus, and you can start studying. You have twelve months to pass the relevant course and qualification test. You will then be automatically enrolled - and can simply get credit for courses you have already taken.   

A trial study course replaces a qualification test.  To do this, you simply apply online to the IU and have a certain amount of time to complete, depending on your chosen study model. Then all you have to do is to complete your selected modules with a total of 15 ETC in the corresponding study time - and you have passed your trial study course! Of course, we will credit all modules you have passed directly to your degree programme.   

Have your skills from your vocational training or job recognised for your studies at the IU! In this way, you save 30 euros per ECTS point and shorten your study time. You can use it to replace up to 50 percent of your studies. Of course, you still have the option to complete your studies in regular time and reduce in this way your workload.  

Education in Germany is regulated independently by each federal state. Therefore, different conditions apply to your study programme without an Abitur, depending on the respective federal state. A few of the most important differences are the following: 

• You have completed an advanced training course? In Hamburg, Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, you will also need a counselling interview before you can start your studies. 
• A qualification test before the start of the studies is required in all federal states except Lower Saxony, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate.   
• The trial study course is offered in about half of the federal states. In the federal states of Schleswig-Holstein and Bremen, you can only take a trial course of study if you have been employed for five years after completing your vocational training. In Thuringia and Saarland, a trial period is possible after a counselling interview.  
• There is an advance quota for vocationally qualified persons in the allocation of study places in Hamburg, Brandenburg and Hesse. This ensures that a small number of places are allocated to people who do not have an Abitur.